Bode Miller's brother upgraded at N.H. hospital

By

October 20, 2005

Bode Miller’s brother upgraded at N.H. hospital{mosimage}Bode Miller said his younger brother is improving from a major head injury suffered in a motorcycle accident in the United States earlier this month.

Miller, in Soelden, Austria, for the start of the World Cup season, said his brother, Chelone, 22, was in the intensive-care unit at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire. According to a hospital spokesperson, Chelone Miller was in satisfactory condition on Thursday, Oct. 20, after a period of time in critical condition.

‘He has had three consecutive days of totally blowing the doctors away’ Bode Miller said, speaking to reporters at a gathering organized by Atomic, his equipment supplier. ‘He went from feeding tube and breathing tube in his throat to the next day talking, opening a Gatorade bottle by himself.’

Miller, who had initially not intended not to speak about his brother’s conditions this week, was upbeat on Thursday night, saying he will race in the Olympics and posing with his girlfriend for dozens of photographers.

In a shock to European journalists expecting him to back down, Miller instead expanded on controversial arguments he first made in Ski Racing magazine for the legalization of performance-enhancing drug use in sports.

Miller said two of the chief goals of the anti-doping effort – to level the playing field and to protect athletes – were unrealistic.

The reigning World Cup champion, Miller arrived in Austria late last week and has been training on the Rettenbach glacier. He left the United States on his 28th birthday feeling drained by the bedside vigil his family had been keeping.

‘I don’t see any reason at all for putting yourself through this emotional roller coaster for no reason, because it really doesn’t help anything’ Miller said. ‘(Chelone’s) a hard kid to hurt in the first place.’

Among the many individuals and organizations that have contact Miller’s family to offer help and support is the mother of 1984 Olympic downhill winner Bill Johnson, who has raised money for those suffering from brain injuries.